Falling for Exotica3 Out Of 5 Stars
Hailing from Iran, the US and her adopted homeland of Canada, Roxanna uses her multicultural upbringing to inform "Exotica," a lushly produced debut album. While she claims Olivia Newton John and Julio Iglesias as muses, the modern listener will hear traces of Gloria Estefan and Celine Dion. That could be drawn from producer Mark Portmann, who has worked with the likes of Dion, Barbra Streisand, Annie Lennox and Christina Aguilera. You get the picture. Pretty pop, lovingly sung by a wishful Diva. The extra thing Roxanna has going for her album is the distinct Latin flavor it incorporates. Flamenco guitars and jazzy trumpets flow in and out of songs like "Here With Me" and a solid cover of Lionel Richie's "Hello."
The style is high diva, with majestic climaxes (the big building "Close Your Eyes") and the Internationally exotic cover of Iglesias' "El Amor," sung in its original Spanish. (The CD opens with another Iglesias tune translated into English, "Only You.") Many of the songs here are heartfelt originals that Roxanna had a hand in composing, including the first song she ever wrote, "Unforgotten," all about being stood up for her own wedding. Talk about drawing from real life.
Overall, "Exotica" is a sturdy debut and stumbles only on a too loungey cover of The Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe." If anything, I'd like to hear Roxanna step away from the safe territory she effortlessly glides throughout much of her debut. But for those looking for contenders to the woman who could be the next big Pop Diva Songstress, Roxanna is quite near the front of the pack.
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